


Stars ( Very Original, Esp For a Space Fic )

by themuffintitan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Homesick, Homesickness, M/M, fluff?, idk how to tag these things??? lol, klance, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 21:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7547776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themuffintitan/pseuds/themuffintitan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance is homesick again. Everyone has just decided over the last few times Lance had thrown a fit that it's best to leave him alone. But Keith doesn't want to live by the logic that someone who misses people would want to be left alone. And no one else was willing to give Lance company. So, he goes in and tries his best to comfort Lance without ever doing so before and idk it ends up pretty gay and they stargaze and it's whatever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars ( Very Original, Esp For a Space Fic )

**Author's Note:**

> im fresh out of a writers block so im... super rusty ( whimpers at the fact that this is less than half the size of the usual garbage ) but i'll get over it, i have like three other klance fics im writing atm whOOHOO im hitting the writing thing at FULL FORCE  
> enjoy some gays

L

ance threw another fit. Or… well, if you can call suddenly going quiet and leaving the room a fit.  It was happening so often as of late in the palace that most didn’t even think twice of what it was about. I mean, they all knew, and definitely felt empathy for it, but after multiple times of trying to get Lance to cool down, the group of paladins realized it was better to leave Lance alone when he gets like this. Homesickness seemed like no fixing matter when they were all light years away from their real homes and families. All they could do is miss them, hope everything is in line, create a perfect picture of happiness for them and pretend that’s what actually happening back on Earth. Lance stormed out, and all that really happened was seeing a few heads perk up, namely Hunk’s and Shiro’s, and watch a small little heartache develop but quickly patch itself up in their expression. They went back to whatever they were doing.  _  Leave him alone, he’ll calm down by himself. _

But Keith thought the whole thing was the stupidest he had ever heard of. Not that he ever really worked up the courage to talk to  _ Lance _ , of all people, about feelings. That idea stressed him out the slightest, so the first couple times this type of incident happened Keith left it alone while everyone else went to try and see what the problem was, only to hear Lance shut them out down the hallway and hide away to pout. But, to leave someone alone when they’re  _ homesick?  _ Who thinks with that logic? And Keith knew he wasn’t good with logic, or context clues in general. He couldn’t get much more than cold hard facts into his head most of the time, but the act of leaving someone who misses the company of their family alone completely baffled him. It felt stupid. Even if Lance was the stubborn one and claimed he wanted to be left alone. 

As much as he wouldn’t admit it out loud, Keith…. Did definitely care about Lance , but he wasn’t sure how. It was a different care than his other fellow paladins, and it took him a while to figure out what it was. And he still doesn’t feel confident enough to tell him this. Maybe Lance felt a bit more like a family, all of his new roommates, in fact, and showing that could help Lance out? Keith’s chest swelled a bit whenever Lance did this, because he was always so used to arrogant and flamboyant Lance, cracking jokes and even picking on him due to their “rivalry.” Keith even missed that whenever Lance left the room to sulk. He missed his smile, his laugh. And he was tired of living by this stupid logic of not bothering him when he clearly needs some kind of support. Perhaps he was the only one that could see that. 

“I’m going to go talk to Lance,” Keith announced, and he wasn’t sure why. He could’ve easily snuck back there and pretended to go to his own room, or any other room at that. Everyone’s attention rose to him, and Keith’s shoulders tensed after having stood up with everyone staring at him. Hunk raised a finger to speak with a nervous tone in his voice.

“I… think Lance just want to be left alone, he doesn’t want to be around everyone,” he suggested, but Keith only folded his arms, symbolizing the stubborn “no” he wanted to say flat out.

“But isn’t it pretty dumb to let him feel lonely when he misses being surrounded by people?” Keith questioned. He shrugged his shoulders when he spoke, cocking his eyebrow. Hunk lowered his hand and his mouth went into a line, but he began again, only to get interrupted by Shiro, who came out of his deep concentration in a card game with Pidge, who was also immersed in the conversation. 

“Well, Keith hasn’t really had the chance to talk one-on-one with Lance…” Shiro’s voice both smoothed and also deepened the tension in the room that was ignited when Lance stood up and walked away. He looked eye to eye with Keith, still waiting for whatever approval he needed from the dad figure. “You can definitely try talking to him. I bet he’ll warm up to you, Keith.” 

The thought put some confidence into his blood like a syringe, and he fixed his posture. Maybe he can make Lance feel better by himself. The thought then made his heart skip, it made him feel a bit happy thinking he might be able to fix Lance up by himself.

“I think so. I make Lance happy,” Keith spoke, which only caused Pidge to snort and place her hand over her mouth cheekily.

“Yeah you do,” she said, an elfish grin clearly being seen behind her small palm. Some of Keith’s confidence was squeezed from him. Was Pidge laughing to him? It confused him. But a small, subtle smack from Shiro’s hand hitting Pidge’s leg made him look back at Shiro, who was returning a smaller and slightly weaker version of the same grin to Pidge, peering at her from out of the corner of his eye. But he caught Keith’s gaze and his expression changed to a reassuring smile.

“You should go talk to him Keith, we’re not going to be doing anything,” he finished. Keith pursed his lips and nodded, still not understanding that strange interaction between those two, not to mention Hunk rolling his eyes from across the room at them and going back to read his book. Keith decided to push it to the back of his mind. He had Lance to worry about. He turned around on his heel, and headed down the hallway. 

The palace when it was dark usually felt just a bit unsettling, especially because you were alone pretty often in the hallways during free time due to the building’s enormous size. Keith’s footsteps echoed up and down the sheerly lit hallways. The lights always managed to hurt his eyes during the nighttime when they were the only source of light in the palace, a bright pearly white times the amount of them in one hallway was pure pain. Keith brought a hand over his eye like he was looking straight into the depths of the actual sun, looking for Lance’s bedroom. He was hoping to find it in the center of the hallway where it usually is soon, because he was slowly coming to terms with how alone he was in this dark intimidating hallway. 

He recognized the center entrance, 3 doors down the third hallway, the exact direction Lance headed in when storming away from everybody. Keith held his breath and knocked, resting his ear on the door. When he began to listen in more intensely than usual, he discovered his heart was thumping like crazy. He didn’t realize he was becoming so nervous. 

“Lance..?” he addressed, “It’s Keith. O-...Open up.” Keith found it hard swallow, and started realizing he didn’t even know what he was doing. Why was he so worked up over this? 

He and Lance.. Got along, right? Keith, he’ll admit, gets on his last nerve when it comes to Lance sometimes, but he always assumed he and Lance had at least  _ something  _ more than just a playful rivalry. He started to doubt, what if Lance would just push him away, what if he was the last person Lance would want to talk to about this? Heck, Keith didn’t even know what he was going to say or do if Lance  _ did  _ let him in. All he did was come here. He didn’t think he would make it this far. Keith thought if he was going to be honest with himself, he just missed having Lance in the room, how stupid was that? So he followed him, and then he stood there not knowing what to do with his heart starting to thunder out of control and-

“Keith?” said a familiar voice, sounding confused. Keith clenched his teeth and jumped, startled. Lance’s voice didn’t sound muffled at all, not through the door at least. It seemed like Lance was standing right there with him. Nerves jolted through his blood, but he kept still, turning around to reveal the face that matched the voice.

Lance stood behind him in his usual lounging wear, except he had his jacket draped over his shoulders instead of having his arms through the sleeves, as if it were a blanket wrapped around his back. He had one hand gripping the back of his neck, and his dark, wooden eyes met Keith’s gaze, refusing to leave. His confuzzled facial expression continued to speak.

“What… what are you doing here?” Ah, Keith realized this was probably weird for Lance, Keith had never taken the card to come and talk to him like this. He didn’t know how to reply. Still leaning on his door, a bit like he was listening in on whatever Lance was doing, he pushed himself away from the door with his palm, and he glanced away from Lance’s heavy gaze. The empty space between conversation and… strangely their bodies make Keith uncomfortable. He suddenly had his doubts, like Keith was being clingy, but quickly called himself ridiculous in his head, and swallowed, preparing to talk again. 

“I.. uh.., I thought you wouldn’t want to be alone,”  _ Shoot, he was really bad at this comforting thing. He didn’t know how to do this. But more importantly, what was Lance going to say to that?? _

Lance stopped, averting his eyes and holding whatever he wanted to say in, almost as if to confirm whether or not Keith was being serious. Tints of pink colored the tips of Lance’s ears, and he itched the top of his head as he did when he was nervous. Keith kept quiet, waiting for his reply.

“They.. didn’t tell you not to come?” he asked, and Keith was baffled by his ability to guess the truth. So smart. But in seriousness, he probably expected it. Or.. maybe he thinks the others sent Keith on purpose, or that Keith was only doing what he was told to do. Keith shook his head.

“N-no, well, they did, b-but… that doesn’t really matter. I still wanted to see you anyway,” Keith stuttered, and ho boy, he wished he could slap himself in the face. His eye twitched as he slowly started to feel more embarrassed, clenching his jaw and waiting for Lance’s denial and to be sent back to the living room ( living room? That’s what Keith thought it was. Well, it does have a couch ). But he only caught Lance’s eye again, breaking a bit of the awkwardness after what he had admitted, because Lance looked awestruck at his words as well. However, it didn’t look like Lance wanted to speak, and Keith needed a way to pick the conversation up before his heart spontaneously combusted.

“Where were you anyway, you’re not in your room?” Keith questioned, not having the strength to meet eyes with Lance anymore. He felt like his face was burning. He couldn’t put his finger on why he was getting so worked up and anxious over talking with this guy. So his glanced in every other direction he could, being well aware that Lance came from the other side of the hallway, in any other room than he thought he would be. Lance only shrugged his shoulders and kept his mouth in a line, eyebrows raised and eyes glued to the walls.

“I don’t know. I was down the hall looking through the windows. It feels roomier than the enclosed bedrooms, you know?” he laughed, tension filled at that. Lance scratched his arm and fiddle with his fingers, not knowing what to do while standing there alone with Keith. Keith could tell Lance’s mind was still being flooded with sad thoughts about home, and he knew just standing in the middle of the hallway wouldn’t do anything to fix it. He decided to try Plan A: take Lance’s mind off of things. If his train of thought chugs elsewhere, he will start to feel better, right? Keith decided it was worth a go. He took a breath and moved the conversation along. 

“...Could you show me?” Keith tried his hardest to think of something better, but he didn’t know what else to say, while staying on topic at least. Lance perked up, confused as to why Keith would even be interested. To be frank though, Keith wasn’t sure of what Lance was up to on his free time, he didn’t think stargazing out a window would be a hobby of his. Perhaps Keith could take the chance to learn a bit about this guy? Maybe even get closer?

_ Why in the world would I want that, We’re already friends, I think,  _ Keith thought to himself, only before focusing back on Lance. Jeez, it was like he couldn’t think straight when he was around Lance. 

“Well, I never really focused much on the stars outside of here, it must be a whole different galaxy. I’d uh… it’d be nice to see,” Keith explained to a still quiet Lance. Lance’s expression showed the gears turning in his head, but to Keith’s surprise, Lance’s thin lips curled into the smallest smile, and Keith’s heart flickered. It wasn’t the usual toothy grin, but it was a smile. Keith couldn’t help but feel ecstatic because  _ Wow, I did that. It’s working!  _ His own smile even peeked out from the corner of his mouth, but he assumed that No, it’s too early for that, we’re here to cheer him up, and you can’t do that with one sentence. But, Lance nodded and motioned his head down in the direction he just arrived from. 

“Yeah, sure, there’s a little spot I like to sit in because it’s curved enough to be kind of like a bed,” Lance explained, and he was already walking back to the place he described, Keith having to pick up the pace to catch up to him. Lance was surely quieter than he normally was when walking at Keith’s side, he discovered, reminding him that Keith still had to find some way to bring Lance’s spirits up. He also noticed the bit of height difference between him and Lance. Lance was just a couple inches taller, maybe one or two, enough to make Keith feel like he would have to stand on his tip toes to be the same height. He found it… attractive.

Jeez, Keith felt like he was just obsessed with the guy. He blamed it on the lighting of the palace. Good lighting can make anyone look super pretty. He mentally tried to calm his heart down. He guessed he was just getting sick.

They eventually made it down the hallway and made a turn to what wasn’t even a room, just and little slice in the hallway that looked like it had been repaired, modified to fill a hole in the ground where the floor was beside the wall, and fit with a small space and an enormous window, giving a view of the stars and planets around them. Lance looked down at Keith and motioned towards the space with his head, awkwardly.

Up close, the space appeared bigger, enough for a few people to fit, conveniently. It was also a bit scarier, in fact. The view of the stars was much different than on the current Earth, with so much artificial light that most stars get blocked out of view. But here, on a planet where technology hasn’t been used for thousands of years and the air is clear, there are millions of more stars in view, some different colors, some brighter than the others, all in Keith’s view. It stunned him, all the while Lance laid on his back in the little space on the floor, waiting for Keith to snap out of his amazement and join him in admiring them together.

“It’s pretty cool, right? It’s like it completely erases my mind. I always feel like I’m looking at a big huge painting, “ Lance described, not taking his eyes off of the sky as Keith settled in and sat with his knees to his chest beside his planking body. Keith snickered, which only caused Lance’s smile to grow a bit more, and turn his cheeks notably pinker. 

“Pretty sentimental for you, Lance. I’m impressed,” Keith joked, and Lance lightly punched him on the shoulder. 

“Yeah, well, I’m only trying to top you melting my heart when you waited by my bedroom door.”

Keith’s mouth went to a squiggly line, and he felt his ears burn a little. Well, when he put it that way… it still didn’t change the fact that Keith totally only came because he suddenly wanted to be with Lance. There wasn’t any way he would be admitting that out loud, that was for sure.

“I  _ only  _ wanted to cheer you up, Lance,” Keith snarked only causing Lance to sigh with a goofy smile on his face. It was getting late, and Keith could feel a bit of sleepiness in Lance’s hum of happiness starting to radiate from him. 

“Well aren’t you too cute then, huh Keith,” Lance laughed softly, and Keith rolled his eyes. There’s the sarcasm he missed. This was easier than Keith thought it would be.

The stillness of the moment, for a while, was different than the earlier tension, and the twinkle of the stars chilled Keith’s mind. He enjoyed this, and he felt himself getting closer to Lance, even if they weren’t speaking much. They spent a few minutes there, Keith breathing steadily, but heart still fluttering without knowing the reason why. He supposed it was because he was already starting to help Lance. He knew all he needed was some company. Maybe he was just the right person.

_ That  _ thought, made him internally ecstatic. He smiled from the corner of his mouth again. Why was Lance making him act like this? It was nice.

His own voice cut through the silence again.

“I.. I know it can be kind of a downer sometimes but… can you believe we’re seriously galaxies away from where we first started?” Keith turned to look at Lance to see if that was too far, and although the light from his face dimmed a bit, Lance did keep his eyes on the stars and replied.

“You’re right, it is… pretty depressing but, I don’t know, I guess I’ve started to look on the brightside again of all of this… I think,” Lance sighed. He pouted his lips and furrowed his eyebrows like he did when he was deep in thought. “Do you think it’s annoying when I get homesick like this? I… I feel like everyone gets annoyed when I get into this mood. I just.. I can’t really help it.” He fiddled his thumbs and shrugged his shoulders again. “I have too much family back home and it’s hard not to think about them, you know?” 

Well, so much for distracting him, Keith thought. He didn’t want to have to do this, because he knows he will be bullshitting his way through most of it, but it was time for Plan B: Real talk. Keith couldn’t take watching Lance feel this way. Especially when he’s afraid his own team is going to reject him. Keith acted on his first wit, what he thought he was good at, and shifted his body to lay next to the other boy, and proceed to wrap his arm around him in a half-assed side hug. Lance tensed up and Keith felt his stomach twisting back and forth like crazy, but avoided Lance’s gaze, which felt as though it was burning holes in his face, and Keith tried his best to speak again.

“Lance…. J-jeez. First of all, you’re an idiot, no one is going to hate you for feeling the same thing they feel. ….Um,” Keith was searching for words, and Lance’s shoulders sunk, letting his body relax. Lance looked away from Keith and rested his head on Keith’s shoulders the best he could when facing forward, picking at his fingernails, listening closely for Keith to continue. 

“I mean… everyone else feels homesick. Uh, hell, Pidge almost left the team completely because she missed her family so badly. And.. I know I.. probably can’t really understand how you feel because.. Your life at home was way different than mine was but,..I guess I’m saying that you’re not completely gone from your family because... you have us?” Keith slowly rambled, pausing in between words to think of what to actually say. Scratch just being himself, this was like defusing a bomb. He didn’t know how Lance would even react. Speaking of bombs, Keith also felt as though he was going to explode with Lance leaning into him, basically  _ snuggling into him  _ like a child. It was helplessly cute. He had trouble thinking because of that, too.

“I, personally, think that you… and.. all the others aren’t just accidental roommates anymore. I care about you guys. I think all of you are a real..family to me. Even yo-” Lance sniffled and interrupted him. 

“Keith, quit it, you’re making me cry,” Lance laughed, reaching to wipe his eyes, and Keith was startled. 

“O-Oh! I’m sorry I was… I was trying to cheer you up, I’m really bad at this, aw jeez,” Keith rambled, about to sit up and see if Lance was alright, but Lance only laughed even more, a laugh that sounded like shiny bells in Keith’s mind, and Lance interrupted him again.

“No no, Keith it’s fine, you’re helping. These are happy tears, I promise,” Lance chuckled. Keith let out a sigh of relief. What a loser this guy was, he’s such a drama queen. But Keith still found himself grinning and squeezing Lance even closer for a second, trying to express what an idiot Lance was to him through his actions instead of his words. 

“Yeah, well, all I’m saying is, it’s fine that you’re homesick, but you shouldn’t feel as homesick as you are now because… you have us? I consider us a family and you’re sure as hell part of it.” The confidence in Keith’s own voice in that last part made Keith feel pretty proud of himself, because Lance did quit his wimpy crying soon after and tapped in the middle of Keith’s chest with his pointer finger. 

“...Thanks Keith. That.. really helped a lot. I didn’t think something like that could come from you, heheh,” Lance giggled through Keith’s shirt, then pulled himself away to place his hands behind his head and gaze through the windows at the stars again. Keith moved his now Lance-free arms and spread them out beside him. Lance was now smiling up at the stars, and Keith felt content. His first try doing this, and he succeeded. He hoped he could real talk with Lance more often. He must be pretty good at it. 

“It really is a whole different galaxy though, I suppose that might be why I enjoy looking at it so much. I can’t believe all of this is real,” Lance spoke, awestruck. Keith hummed in reply. “It’s strange not being able to see even the Big Dipper, it’s literally a whole different set of constellations.” Keith stared out, looking for familiar constellations that he charted back on Earth, but not to his surprise, he couldn’t find any of them. It got him thinking. 

“Do you think the Alteans charted the stars at all?” Keith asked, and Lance snorted. “What?” Keith whined, finding himself smiling again at the sound of Lance’s snickering. 

“S’just a dorky question is all. I’m sure they did if they managed to build this robot of a building,” Lance laughed, and Keith grinned in reply. His heart fluttered like it was full of butterflies.

“I’m serious! They’re an alien race, they could be different from Earth, and smarter, I wonder if only us humans are dumb enough to make pictures out of stars that are millions of miles apart,” Keith laughed, explaining things also with his hands, reaching out like he could grab the enormous balls of gas, straight through the window with his palms. Lance squinted out into the galaxies, then scooted over to Keith, smashing their heads together in an attempt to look from Keith’s point of view and point at a group of stars with his pinkie. 

“Then how about that one- it looks like a snake, see? They make a line,” Lance explained. Keith squinted his own eyes to actually look for the ridiculous shape in the mix of white and green and purple galaxies, and snickered, grinning and shutting his eyes. 

“You’re really stupid,” Keith laughed, bringing a loose fist to his mouth when he laughed. Lance giggled into Keith’s ear and shook his head. 

“No no, you’re not looking hard enough, and see? The one over there, it looks like a worm. And that one looks like a string,” Lance continued to dead-pan, making Keith laugh even harder, and Lance’s breath was tickling Keith’s neck, making his cheeks go pink and his stomach start to swirl. He never wanted the moment to end. 

“You really are a professional, Lance,” Keith continued to chuckle in between his words. “I often miss you cracking jokes like this when you’re sad,” Keith mentioned, turning his face right towards Lance, not realizing how close they were. His heart was thudding, and the only thing he could think of was how he wanted to be closer. It was quiet after his own laughter died down, and Keith wondered if it had to do with what he had said, but Lance spoke again. 

“Yea well, I miss-” But he stopped mid-sentence, turning his head to face Keith mutually, making the distance between the two's’ faces only inches apart. They caught each other’s gaze, and Keith swallowed. Lance’s wide eyes looked… strangely gorgeous with the reflection of the stars complementing the sweetening, humble brown. Lance couldn’t break his gaze with Keith, and Keith’s heart was all that he could hear, rattling in his ears. 

“I… I miss,” and before Keith could even beg in his own mind for the space to be closed, their accidental staring contest was broken when Lance closed his eyes and leaned in closer, pressing their lips together.

Keith’s heart stopped and began to melt, just like Lance mirrored when Keith’s shifted onto his side and sent his hands up into Lance’s growing hair, moving in closer and kissing him further. Keith shut his eyelids as he realized what all the tension was about, and felt it drift away in seconds.

The kiss was relatively short, but tender. Enough to feel, enough to take in Lance’s warmth through his lips in just a few seconds. Lance had only his hand cupping Keith’s shoulder when he pulled away, opening his eyes, face now notably pinker than it was seconds before. Lance tensed, glancing to and from Keith’s face, while Keith felt as though the stars in the universe before them had moved into his own eyes, everything glittering. Lance’s eyebrows were forever raised, and he brought his palm to his mouth, muffling his voice the slightest when he spoke.

“I uh…. I really didn’t that would go through?? I’m.. actually in shock,” He stopped, and removed his hand, and looked Keith in the eye with a confused stare. “You’re… You’re gay??”

Keith’s mouth transformed into a blank line, arms still wrapped around Lance’s neck and holding them close. He, with the tips of his ears burning and heart thumping with absolute glee, shrugged his shoulders and subtly nodded his head. He supposed so, he never really knew how to explain what he felt, even to himself, but if he knew anything, he knew for sure he really,  _ really  _  enjoyed the feel of the Latino boy’s lips on his own.

“You… like me. You actually like me back,” Lance questioned, still awestruck. Keith snorted and rolled his eyes, running a single hand through Lance’s hair again.

“I’m just as surprised as you are. But I thought you were at least smart enough to kiss me again already,” Keith sassed, and Lance’s mouth immediately went squiggly, cheeks crimson. Keith laughed and agreed to himself that this view was even better than the galaxy of stars next to them.

“If you say so, bossy,” Lance snarked, hands slithering around Keith and into his locks, tugging playfully and pulling the boy into him for the second time around. Both boys wanted to be closer, together, as if they could be one. Keith subconsciously wrapped his leg around Lance’s, intertwining the two and closing the space between their hips and chests. Both got lost, unable to even process that their feelings were mutual. Keith felt moved very quickly, but only until Lance pulled away to breathe. The flustered boy looked just as surprised as last time, and as soon as Keith opened his eyes to look at Lance laying right beside him, his mouth curled into the smallest little smirk. His heart was practically bursting, and he knew Lance could feel it through his shirt, but he could also tell that Lance was also slipping through his fingertips he was so melted. Keith was surprised Lance held in the worse feelings of homesickness in before. It made him want to laugh, because Lance kept quiet, making sure he didn’t have eye contact with Keith for the couple seconds after he pulled away. He knew Keith was smiling at him, and he was too embarrassed and overwhelmed from being in the hold ( as well as holding himself ) his teammate who he had been attracted to for months. Perhaps he had fallen asleep while lying under the stars. Lance guessed it was another dream. 

“Lance, you.. Don’t have to be afraid to look at me,” Keith snickered. Keith shifted the hand cupping the side of Lance’s face down over Lance’s chin and turned his head so he was facing eye-to-eye. Lance cocked his eyebrow, in what was probably a half-assed attempt at trying to keep cool.

“Yeah, who are you and what have you done to my rival,” Lance pouted, causing Keith to smile even bigger. Maybe Keith was a bit high on happiness over the fact that the feelings were mutual, and the fact that Lance was acting like a little child with a schoolgirl crush. It was adorable, he couldn’t help himself from smiling. 

“Look who’s talking, cool guy,” Keith laughed, wanting to kiss Lance’s open forehead and suck even more out of him, but Lance scooted away before Keith could make the decision. Lance swallowed, keeping one of his arms around Keith and rolling on his side, out from Keith’s full grasp.

“Just.. hold on. We can’t go too fast,” Lance explained, scratching his nose. Keith’s smile melted away, feelings rejected, almost, but he quickly understood and pushed those thoughts back. “We have to.. Talk this out first. Jeez, Keith I haven’t even given to a dramatic confession yet,” Lance said, turning his head and scrunching his nose. He poked Keith on the shoulder with his pointer finger, making Keith smile once more. “Didn’t realize you wanted to kiss me so ba-”

“Alright then,  _ rival _ , lay it on me,” Keith felt relatively flirtatious, and pretty damn good at this game after all. He guessed it was because of his overflow of glee and ideas, or.. Maybe Lance was overwhelmed too, immediately becoming putty in Keith’s hands.  But Keith kept quiet, it was time for real talk again.

Lance held his breath, pursing his lips and thinking hard. Keith only laid beside him, still smirking out of the corner of his mouth. He lifted his head up and held it there with his arm perpendicular to the floor. He fiddled with his bangs, which were longer than he was used to due to being in space for a few months then. His hair covered his eyes, and he was constantly picking at it that he eventually got tired of it and didn’t bother. All the while waiting for Lance to speak. When he looked back up Lance, still in full listening mode, Lance was staring back, taking in every move. When Lance snapped back into his senses, he covered his face the best he could with his one free hand and whined. Keith cocked his eyebrow and tugged at the collar of his shirt, also nervous of the growing tension. He wished Lance would get this over with so he could pull him in again. Keith didn’t realize kissing people would be something he really wanted,  _ especially _ from Lance, when they first arrived on Altea and were given their so-told destinies. He snickered, trying his hardest not to get his hands get grabby over Lance’s face.  _ Take it slow, tease him, and make him want to come.  _

“Hey, you kissed me first, rival, don’t make it seem like  _ I’m  _ the one embarrassing you,” Keith totally knew he was the reason Lance was embarrassed.

Wow, to think he came here so Lance  _ wouldn’t _ feel small.

Lance held back a smile, biting his lower lip, and hit Keith’s side with the back of his palm.

“Jus’ gimmie a minute, I can’t even think straight around you now,” Lance couldn’t bother hiding his burning cheeks, identical to Keith’s, and instead pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re welcome to talk too, you know, Mullet Man,” he kidded.

“Oh no, do go on, Cool Guy,” Keith answered, eyes half-lidded and hinting his voice with lust.  _ Let me hear you say you like me. _

Lance shrunk into his shoulders a bit more every time he heard the sound of Keith’s voice. He hated having to do this, he did make the first move, and now he has to face the consequence. Lance felt he was too stupid for this. Too love stupid. But enough was enough. He wasn’t going to let this happen quickly, and he wasn’t going to  _ not  _ let it happen at all, either. And he had to take control again, too, obviously. Lance felt too weak when Keith plucked at his heart strings like this. He wasn’t prepared for Keith to be a flirtatious type deep down after some feelings jams together. 

Lance turned on his side to face Keith, and Keith’s heart skipped a beat, smile fading away from the startle. Lance looked kind of like he was really struggling. He lifted his hand and pointed his thumb at himself. 

“I…” he started, switching from his thumb to his pointer finger, centering it right into Keith’s confused face, but he lowered it. “I… can’t even talk when you have that confused look on your face. The cute one,” Lance teased, hiding his own grin. Confidence was being sucked from Keith and into Lance. It was the second time Keith had been called cute today, and of course both had to be by Lance.

Keith pursed his lips, glancing back and forth. He had to keep his guard up.

Their “rivalry” felt almost real as Keith realized what Lance was trying to do, and Lance definitely trying to get Keith to stand down. Lance had had enough of being the cute one, that was Keith’s job. Keith started to sweat from holding in low giggles at how ridiculous Lance was being about this. He didn’t even have to say more than a sentence. 

“I, Lance,” he stifled his own laughter, “-like you, Keith. In a gay way. For like, months now. Probably years. I’m not even sure. But I like you. I think you’re incredibly attractive. Like, your face is some pretty good shit,” Lance rambled, and Keith smiled so big his eyes squinted. To Lance, the sight of Keith being this happy felt like looking at a million dollar painting, bright and colorful. He covered his face again, laughing into his hand. “ I guess that’s the way I’ve broken it to you forever,” he sighed, Keith’s laughter prying any of his nerves or regrets away immediately. 

“So...was that hard or what?” Keith teased, and Lance narrowed his eyes, pouting. 

“With your face 2 inched away from mine, yes, yes it was. Your turn, Mullet Man. What do you have to say for yourself, coming in here and pulling me into your chest.” Keith furrowed his eyebrows, not daring to make eye contact. Shit, he couldn’t believe he was admitting this. 

“I.. uh… I just-” Keith stuttered, making Lance cackle.

“Yeah, I know I’m not the one who is bad with words, Keith, don’t tease me about it again, hmm?” Lance used the arm under Keith’s torso to pull Keith in closer, making Keith even more tense, his ears practically hot enough to singe his own hair. Lance made use of his hold, running his thumbs up and down the small of Keith’s back, making Keith whimper and cup his mouth with his hand. Lance already confessed, he had nothing to lose. 

Keith, opening his eyes again, saw a malicious and playful expression printed on Lance’s face, making his stomach stumble all over the place. Lance’s hands were cold on his back, even through the fabric of his shirt. He wondered how Lance wasn’t dying of heat in his sweater-blanket, because the combination of the two boys’ breath was enough to make anything overheat. His heart fluttered and he didn’t want to breathe, fearing it’ll reveal even more of his nervousness. He wished being good with words was a factor of his.

“Go on, Mullet Man,” Lance teased even more, Keith wishing it was over. He liked Lance better when he was on his lips, not able to speak. Keith sighed shakily, Lance changed from his thumb to all of his fingers, caressing his side and hip. It would be comforting if Lance didn’t have such a devilish grin stitched under his nose. 

“Sure, I..I like you too,” Keith finished, squinting his eyes shut. He had to force out every word. Not that he didn’t want to, either. Lordy, Keith had forgotten how actually terrible he was with words in the midst of his confidence. His face burned with shame, how could he let himself get so arrogant so easily. Lance frowned.

“That’s all you got?” he complained, but Keith opened his eyes, and spoke before thinking. Just what he was good at.

“Okay, w-well, if I’m so bad with words then I must be better with actions, huh? Can’t I show you  _ that  _ way then??” Keith snipped, and Lance’s face caught on fire. His eye widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, yet nothing came out. Keith groaned and smacked his own face.  _ Not yet, at least,  _ he thought. What he said only proves how awful he is at describing. 

“No nono no,” he stumbled over his words waving his hand frantically as if to stay ‘STOP THINKING ABOUT SEX!!!!’. “I meant… I meant I can’t really- it’s hard to say that-” Keith stumbled, and even pulled his arm out from under Lance to cover his face completely. “That’s not what I m eant I was going to ask if it would be moving to quickl y if I just- held off on the t alking and kis-” but Lance was already laughing, as soon as he realized Keith had messed up again. He  _ was  _ really cute when he stuttered, or even got confused over himself. Lance thought,  _ What a blockhead.  _ Lance elevated his arms and held Keith’s face to force him to look him in the eye. Keith’s eyes were full of stars, flustered and a mess, and he hoped his own smile might calm him down.

“Why don’t you kiss me then?” Lance asked.

“YES!!! That’s all I was ask ing to do, I love kissing you-” Keith rambled. Oops. There was no going back on that after he heard the stifled laughter come from Lance across from him.

“You love kissing me?” he questioned, using his finger to brush the hair out of Keith’s face to see his charming face clearly, almost in preparation for what he knew was going to come. Keith gulped, saying what first came to mind.

“Yes… I.. um.. I love kissing you,” he admitted, voice cracking in the center near the end. Lance smirked, but pausing before he spoke.

“Then why don’t you?” 

Keith couldn’t take it anymore. He knew his heart-and brain- were going to burst if he had to keep admiring Lance’s face, dimly lit from the galaxies they were once watching minutes before, and he only prayed the others wouldn’t walk in on a moment he wouldn’t want to forget.

So just as he did before, Keith took a big gulp, and went in for Lance. Except this time, he knew it would end well, even if it was short. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading yall, *coughs up blood* it's great to be back from doing absolutely nothing


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